Toy track for vehicles



Dec. 5, 1961 Filed May 4, 1959 A. EINFALT TOY TRACK FOR VEHICLES 2Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Dec. 5, 1961 A. ElNFALT 3,011,288

TOY TRACK FOR VEHICLES Filed May 4, 1959 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStatesPatent Ofiice Claims priority, application Germany Feb. 3, 1959 Y6 Claims. (C1. 46-216) The invention relates to a toy comprising aboardwith a single track runway and appropriate traffic signs and vehiclesmovable along the runway and which can be stopped and released atcertain halting places, such as branches, crossings, parking lots andthe like, in that a drop-lever provided on each of the vehicles whichcan be lowered into the runway blocks the driving mechanism of thevehicle and on being again raised releases this mechanism. I

In the known toy runways of this type, rotatable disks or othercontrolling devices are provided, with the aid of which the recesses inthe runway are alternately closed or opened from below. The disadvantageof this arrangement is that either a rotary disk of a size correspondingto that of the board of the toy is necessary, or that if a smallerrotatable disk is chosen the recesses can only be provided at a limiteddistance from the center of rotation of the disk. In the former case theamount of ma terial required is considerable and in the latter case theeffects obtainable are restricted. Another objection is that therotatable disk has to be mounted on the toy board,

which as a rule need only be a thin plate, and also requires guides forensuring its perfect rotation.

The above-mentioned objections are overcome by the constructionaccording to the present invention in that a closing strip which can beraised and lowered is provided for each recess and mounted on the end ofa tip lever.

This arrangement presents the advantage that every recess,irrespectively of the position it occupies on the board, can be easilycovered or uncovered with the aid of a narrow strip requiring but littlematerial such as sheet metal, and the front end of which forms at thesame time the closing strip.

A particularly advantageous construction is attained if matically by wayof example in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. '1 is aperspective view showing the board of the toy with a toy motor car and aplurality of traffic signs;

FIG. 2 a section on line IIII of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 a similar section with adepressed operating lever;

FIG. 4 a section on line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 a section on line V-V of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 a similar section with raisedoperating lever; and

FIG. 7 a section on line VII-.VII of FIG. 6; Z

FIG. 8 shows a toy motor car partly in longitudinal section with itsdrop-lever lowered;

FIG. 9 is a similar view with the drop-lever raised;

FIG. 10 shows the motor car in bottom plan view, and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an operating lever.

As already mentioned the toy comprises a board a which may consist of arelatively thin flat plate, for example, of sheet metal. It hasdepending or bent-down edge portions b which maintain the board a at aheight above the surface on which it is placed and provide the spacenecessary for accommodating the operating levers under the plate.

The plate a is provided with a one-way track network in the form ofsunken runways c which are formed in the plate a for example bypressing. Distributed along these runways are a few crossings, branchesand parking lots; in the example'illustrated there are the crossings dand d branches e and e and parking lots f f and f At the crossings andbranches in the runways c, protrusions g are provided in the tracks forguiding the vehicles at the crossings and branches.

The toy includes several toy motor-vehicles, for example toy automobilesh. In the construction illustrated these are each provided with aclockwork motor i inthe tip lever for operating the closing strip andextending underneath the board is tiltable on an edge of the boundarywall of the board and in its up and down movement is guided in theregion of the recess. At the same time it is advisable to provide theoperating lever, which as already mentioned may consist of a strip ofsheet metal, with bent-over edges and allow it to engage over thetilting edge of the board wall in two opposite grooves. In this mannerit is possible to provide the operating lever with a bearing which isboth reliable and easy to produce.

According to another feature of the invention, an operating lever ofsimilar type is provided on its free end with an upwardly extending edgewhich can be moved up and down through an aperture in the board of thetoy and serves in the case of branches for closing a branch of therunway in point-like fashion. Thus at the branch in question the twotracks of the runway can be selectively switched in or cut out as withpoints.

A particular advantage is that all operating levers are tiltably mountedon the same edge of the board of the toy and each is provided with ahandle at its end. It is then possible for a child playing with the toyto manipulate all the levers without any difiiculty from a sittingposition if it has the toy in front of it resting on a table or the likewith the handles of the operating levers on the front edge. This is veryimportant because if several vehicles are moving along the runway, thechild must operate the levers in quick succession.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated schecorporating adrop-lever k capable of movingup and down about'a pivot axle and ofengaging a rotary part, for example a pinion m of the motor withthe aidof a slot I. When the drop-lever k is raised as shown in FIG.

' 9, the pinion m rotates freely in the slot 1. If, however,

the drop-lever k descends into the position shown in FIG. 8, the lockingnose It engages the teeth of the pinion m and blocks the runningdownmovement of the clockwork motor.

To assist the guiding of the drop-lever k it can also be provided with aslot 0 engaging over a pinion p.

The board a has apertures or recesses g g q q'*, q and q in the runwaysc and these are coordinated to the crossings, branches and parking lots.When a vehicle reaches one of these recesses its drop-lever k descendsinto the position shown in FIG. 8 with the result that the clockworkmotor is blocked and the vehicle brought to a standstill.

Underneath the plate a, closing strips r are provided one for each ofthese recesses q and each strip forms the end of one of the tip levers ss s s, s and s If the closing strip is raised by means of its operatinglever so that it is brought out of the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 8and into the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, the corresponding recess qwill be closed from below with the result that the drop-lever is raisedinto the position shown in FIG. 9 with the result that the clockworkmotor is released and the toy vehicle can travel on.

The operating levers s which may each consist of a fiat sheet metalstrip, have downwardly bent edges 2 with two opposite grooves u by meansof which they engage over the bearing edge. This bearing edge is, in thecase of the levers s s s the lower edge of an aperture provided in thefront wall b of the plate a.

Similarly, the same type of tipping bearing canbe pro- Patented Dec. 5,1961 vided for the levers s s s which are coordinated to the parkinglots f f f or their recesses q q q The operating levers s assume theposition shown in FIGS. 2 and 8 under the action of gravity. By exertingpressure on the ends projecting from the edge or Wall b, which ends maybe constructed as handles, the operating levers are tipped into theposition illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 9. They are thereby guided into theranges of the recesses q by means of a lug x which may be bent out fromthe material displaced during the stamping of the recesses q and has aholding edge y engaging through a slot in the operating lever s.

In addition to the operating levers for the halting places, similaroperating levers s can, as already mentioned, also be provided at thebranches, These levers s have an upwardly projecting edge z which can bemoved upwards through a corresponding slot in the runway c. When thisedge 2 is raised out of the position shown in FIG. 5 into the positionshown in FIG. 6, it projects into the runway at the branch e and actslike a point, preventing the oncoming vehicle from travelling straightahead and diverting it into the curve or branch.

This lever s is similarly mounted and guided to the other operatinglevers in the manner above described.

It is advisable to provide the runway with trafiic signs at thecrossings, branches, parking lots, etc., which signs correspond to theconventional traffic signs used on the roads, for example halt or stopsigns, major road signs, parking signs and so forth. These traflic signsj can be removed and interchanged. Therefore, in the example illustratedthey are provided with a plug-in base the plug pins of which can beinserted in corresponding sockets or holes in the board of the toy.

I claim:

1. A toy track system for at least one toy motor vehicle having adrop-lever movable up and down to release and stop the vehiclerespectively, said track system comprising: an elevated base platehaving depending edge portions; a one-way track network havingcrossings, branches and parking lots on said elevated base plate, saidnetwork also having apertures formed therein permitting downwardmovement of the drop-lever to stop the vehicle at points coordinatedwith said crossings, branches and parking lots; a normally depressedclosing strip positioned under each of said apertures; and means forelevating said closing strips individually to close said aperturesrespectively and raise the drop-lever to release the vehicle, said meansincluding tip-levers connected to said closing strips and extendingoutwardly of the edge portion of said board.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1' wherein the operating levers extendunderneath the board and are tiltable through slots in the edge portionsthereof and including means for guiding each lever in the region of oneof the recesses in the board.

3. Toy according to claim 2, wherein each of the operating levers hasbent-over side edges with two opposite notches engaging a tilting edgeprovided in the dependingedge portion of the board.

4. Toy according to claim 2, wherein said means for guiding theoperating levers is a lug extending downwards from the underside of theboard and engaging in a slot in the lever, the lug having a bent-overedge engaging underneath the lever.

5. Toy according toclaim 1, including an additional, tiltably mountedoperating lever having on its free end an upwardly extending stripmovable up and down through an aperture in thetrack network adjacent atleast one of said branches forming two track portions to block oneportion and divert the vehicle into the other portion.

6. Toy according to claim 1, wherein all the operating levers aretiltably mounted on the same downwardly bent edge of the board andincluding a handle for each said lever.

